Aquatic organotin pollution in Taiwan.
The current status of aquatic organotin pollution in Taiwan is reviewed. In freshwater sediments and biota, especially in rice-field related habitats, phenyltins (PTs) were dominant among the organotin pollutants, whereas butyltins (BTs) were usually predominant in marine environments. Among the marine habitats, contamination levels were found to be in the descending order of harbour and estuary>fish cultural site>coastal>offshore>coral reefs. Imposex snails were observed in all the sampling years (1990-2003). Meanwhile, organotin concentrations were greater in winter than those in summer, whereas proportions of PTs were much higher in summer than in winter. Due to the lack of continuous monitoring data, the effectiveness of the ban on TPT usage in agriculture in 1999 and the prohibition of TBT use on small boats in 2003 is still not known.
Meng
Pei-Jie
PJ
National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium, Pingtung, 944, Taiwan.
Lin
Junda
J
Liu
Li-Lian
LL
D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D009947:Organotin Compounds / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity; D013624:Taiwan; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity
D009947:Organotin Compounds; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical